Residents are benefitting from faster diagnosis at Barking Community Hospital, with an additional 30,000 tests and scans taking place this financial year, including MRI, CT and ultrasound.

The additional scans are playing a key role in helping us reduce our waiting lists and Barking Community Hospital has been boosted further in recent weeks with a new CT machine, which has replaced an older model.

Providing the very best patient experience isn’t about treatment alone, equally as important is the environment in which people are cared for, and we’ve improved the CT treatment room by installing bright and calming seasonal lightboxes, which will help relax patients during their scan.

As part of the national Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) programme, NHS partners across north east London (NEL) are asking residents for their views on proposals to be able to increase the number of checks, scans and tests across all of our boroughs.

One proposal is to build a dedicated CDC at Barking Community Hospital, which would see a purpose-built centre where patients could access different diagnostic services in one building. Have your say and complete the short survey by Tuesday 13 September.

Ann Hepworth, our Director of Strategy and Partnerships, said: “The proposed diagnostic centre at Barking would provide more tests and scans for NEL residents and would also mean those living in Barking and Dagenham can access these services on their doorstep. We want local people to have their say, so I encourage you to please complete the survey.”